This week, Atari granted our wish, with an all-day LAN event at the new Rivalutions gaming center in Pleasanton, CA. Along with Epic's Cliff Bleszinski and Jay Wilbur, we spent considerable time running through all of the major game modes and many of the new maps. By the end of the day, one thing was clear: UT is ready to make a comeback in a big way.

Con-voy!!!

Since most of the attendees were playing the new UT2004 maps for the first time, Bleszinski took a few minutes before each game to give us a quick tour of each level, showing off many of the game's new weapons, vehicles, and other features. This was especially important for the returning assault modes, where players could easily spend lots of time just trying to figure out how to achieve their objectives.

The first map we loaded up was "Convoy" -- the spiritual sequel to the popular train assault map from the original Unreal Tournament. Instead of just one train, however, this map features two transports running side by side in a massive canyon, with a convoy of buggies (hence the name) running between the two. The ultimate goal for the attackers: open a cargo bay door and offload a series of missiles.

Within seconds of joining the attacking team, three important additions to UT 2004 could be seen. The first is the stationary turret, many of which were placed atop both transports, with the potential to rip through enemies in a hurry. The downside, of course, is that you're a sitting duck for enemy snipers while using the turrets (and sniping is a very useful ability on this map). The second addition is the weapons station -- instead of having to scramble around collecting guns and ammo every time you respawn, there's a small station near your spawn point which gives you a preset cache of weapons and ammo, which allows you to get into the action quicker.

The third -- and maybe the most useful -- addition: a small arrow in the upper left of your screen that points the way towards your next objective, similar to what you'd see in many driving games. This was a huge help in overcoming the learning curve for each map, and is one of those "Aha!" features that makes you wonder why no one else has done it before. We still see people trying to figure out objectives in Enemy Territory; this should make it a lot easier for gamers to get up to speed on the new assault maps.

Overall, the Convoy map already plays well, with both teams pushing back and forth on each successive objective, creating nonstop action from start to finish. I spent a good deal of time with the sniper rifle, which handles flawlessly, and allowed me to rip off a series of headshots in a few seconds prompting a few choice words from the players around me (ah, the joys of LAN gaming). Convoy was one of the few levels we played where you could see nearly the entire map from one spot, making snipers a key asset, along with controlling the various turrets placed around the transports.

The Mother Lode

Continuing with assault, Bleszinski loaded up what might be the most radical new map within UT 2004 -- "MotherShip." Starting in the vacuum of space, the first objective for the attackers is to knock out a shield generator, piloting small Wing Commander-style space fighters. Controlling the fighters was extremely simple, using the mouse to steer, the forward / back keys to speed up and slow down, and the alternate fire key to roll and spin. Switching back and forth between first- and third-person views was as simple as hitting the F4 key, and I found both views equally easy to navigate from. Once again, the small arrow used to point towards our objective was a godsend -- the entrances to the narrow ports leading to the shield generators weren't always obvious, but they might have been near impossible to find without the onscreen cues.

In your face, blastastic action.

Once the shields are down and the attackers have crash landed inside the mothership, the action switches to more traditional-style combat, as the attackers try to knock out as set of energy bypass switches, gain access to a cargo hull, and finally take out the engine's core. In an interesting bit of balancing, the defenders' weapon cache includes rockets while the attackers' does not, which made it pretty hard for the defenders to get far into the ship (this may be tweaked for the final version). An optional switch allows the attackers to turn off the gravity, opening up a secondary route through the level, but most of the combat was focused on the ramps leading downward into the ship, where both teams of defenders (we switched sides after each map) were able to hold the area indefinitely, making this a key choke point for the level.